Internal Damage
by HamhaPHKFan
Summary: Tony loves practical jokes, which means torture for his teammates, and everyone thinks he has a death wish when they see a flame painted truck in Gibbs' parking spot. There's only one problem.  Tony didn't put it there.
1. Chapter 1

Ziva David drove down a nearly empty street with one hand on the steering wheel and the other clutching a cup of tea. She thought she could get from home to work without any caffeine, but after two minutes of driving she quickly gave in. Taking another sip of the warm drink she got from take out at Tim Hortons, Ziva glanced at the time.

"One in the morning..." The agent grumbled to herself. That was _too early _to be awake, and Ziva was usually an early riser. She had to be, considering what kind of job she had. Ziva briefly thought of her old job as a control officer. That was the job she had when she met her current team. After spending quite a bit of time with the group and helping them solve a few crimes, Ziva quit her job and joined NCIS.

Ziva brushed her brown hair out of her face to drink more of her tea. When she got a call from DiNozzo that morning saying Gibbs wanted the team to come back to work, Ziva quickly got dressed into a green sweater and loose brown pants. It wasn't very official looking, but there was no real dress code at NCIS. Ziva barely payed attention to the road in front of her, a mercy to all but the few who shared the road with her red and black Mini Cooper.

There were so many murders lately. After solving a case, the team was lucky to get five hours to themselves before another victim was found. Ziva had been awake for the most of two days, getting a few hours to herself to go home and sleep.

Ziva shifted in her seat and turned on the radio, deciding to occupy herself with a bit of music, though she wouldn't really pay any attention to it. The radio was set on a news station that had taken over the sports station from the night before. She gave DiNozzo a ride home and he tuned in to it, trying to get the end results of a game he missed. Ziva thought that it was stupid to have a man yelling a broadcast of a sport that they weren't watching, and DiNozzo tried to explain to Ziva that he listened to it _because_ he wasn't there, though he didn't get through to her.

"... possible rain in the afternoon." The announcer spoke, making Ziva realize that she missed the first half of the sentence. "This April Fools day might not be as fun filled as last years. In other news, most of the damage in Egypt caused by a meteor shower has been repaired..."

Ziva stopped listening broadcast after 'April Fools'. DiNozzo was a fun loving prankster, and it was April First. DiNozzo called Ziva and made her get up at _one in the morning _to go to work. Ziva swore, a rare sight to behold. If this was an April Fools joke, she was going to make use of her 'seventeen ways to kill someone with a plastic ruler' threats.

Ziva grimaced and took a gulp of her tea. She turned off the radio early, since she could see the NCIS building from the red light she was stalled at. Ziva didn't completely understand why she was stuck at a red light when she was the only one on the road at that hour. The light turned green a moment later and she sped off.

Ziva pulled into a parking spot and turned the key to her car. She sat back slightly as the vehicle rumbled into silence, hoping that DiNozzo had not done something revolting dedicated to her as a 'prank'. With a sigh, Ziva stepped out of her car and locked the door behind her. She drank some of her tea and tried to make sure she would keep an eye on her surroundings throughout the day. As she walked towards her destination, she saw Abby's Coupe, McGee's Boxter, and Dr. Mallard's Morgan, but before she saw the rest of the cars, Ziva stopped short and gawked.

There was a large Peterbilt in Gibbs' parking space. Ziva knew, the first day she met the man, that no one stepped a foot in _Gibbs' parking space_. The truck was _huge_, several feet taller than the NCIS agent. As out of character as it was, Ziva stared at the vehicle with her mouth slightly open, still trying to figure out how to respond to the situation.

That was most likely DiNozzo's 'April Fools' prank, judging by the truck's paint job. It was generally blue, but it was covered in a red and orange flame pattern from the front grill to the back. Even better, the truck had no visible license plate, and knowing Tony, he probably showed off the truck all around Washington DC.

Yes, definitely the work of DiNozzo.

Stepping closer to the Peterbilt, Ziva noticed possibly over one hundred scratches and dents on it's exterior, almost as if someone had tried to rip it into a thousand peices. It was leaking a strange pink fluid from somewhere Ziva couldn't see where she stood. Beyond suspiscious, Ziva climbed up the truck's side and peered into the window. DiNozzo wasn't inside. Nobody was. Smart move, even though Tony was still going to be in a stack of trouble with the boss. That is the way the phrase worked, right? 'Stack of trouble'? Ziva shook her head and stepped down, holding the trucks exhaust pipe for balance.

The truck was still warm. It seemed to have been driven recently. Ziva looked around for Tony, and with no luck in spotting the agent, she figured Tony bolted after parking the giant, flame painted, going-to-get-a-ticket-for-not-having-a-license-plate truck.

"Oh, Tony, what are we going to do with you..." Ziva said to herself, smirking while sipping her tea quietly. She thought of how much torture Gibbs was going to put DiNozzo through. Too bad she left her camera at home; the event would have made a great home video. She could've shown Tim, too. He would have loved to see it.

Speaking of McGee, Ziva needed the computer geek to show her how to work a GPS. After a lot a begging from almost everyone on her team, Ziva finally got a navigational system that would show her exactly how to get somewhere, and not make her do a U-turn at every intersection. Ziva still believed she didn't need one, and that she was fine getting around on her own.

With one last glance at the Peterbilt, Ziva walked into the NCIS building and headed for the elevator, ignoring the annoyed grunt from a tired security guard. Ziva stepped into the elevator, holding the door open so a man could get in, and pressed the button that would take her where she wanted to go.

Ziva leaned back into the wall as the elevator started moving up. She blinked a few times and stifled a yawn. Why did Gibbs want everyone to come in at that time of day? Ziva shook her head again, taking another sip of her tea. She had to be_ really _tired not to know why she was going to work. This was either a new case, or a DiNozzo prank, and to ensure the existence of the mentioned agent, it better had been the former.

Ziva looked up to see the elevator doors opening. She didn't even notice that the elevator had stopped. Glancing to her right, she saw the man she held the door for staring lazily into space. At least Ziva wasn't the only one losing sleep. Ziva walked out and tossed her empty cup into a trash can as she passed it.

Taking a glance at her surroundings like she promised herself she would, Ziva spotted Tony sitting at his desk, clearly watching Ziva out of the corner of his eye with a smug look but obviously trying to seem like he wasn't. He had two cups of coffee on his desk, though one was left untouched. Timothy, on the other hand, sat at his computer, eyebrows furrowed and frown plastered on his face. Ziva walked straight up to DiNozzo's desk and crossed her arms. "You know Gibbs' is going to kill you, right?"

Tony looked up at Ziva, exasperated. He raised his hands in the air and sighed, annoyed. "Why is everyone saying that?"

Ziva dismissed Tony's outburst and walked over to McGee. She asked a question she believed she already knew the answer to. "Why are you so angry?"

"Because he's a party pooper." Tony answered for his fellow agent. Tony turned towards his grumpy comrade with a smile grazing his lips. "Why so serious, probie?"

"Tony decided it was a good idea to reorganize everything in my computer." Timothy said to Ziva, refusing to acknowledge DiNozzo. McGee continued to type for a moment before sighing hard and leaning back in his chair. He finally glanced over to DiNozzo, frustrated. "Gluing my hands to the keyboard was preferable to this!"

Tony threw his head back and chuckled while Tim huffed and went back to organizing his work. Ziva looked back and forth between the two men before heading to her seat. She looked at the chair first to make sure DiNozzo didn't unscrew anything. When she confirmed that no one had fiddled with it, Ziva looked on the top of her desk. She saw nothing, so she sat down and looked at Tony with an eyebrow raised. Tony chuckled. "What, you don't trust me? Your fellow agent? That _hurts_ me, Ziva."

Ziva snorted and turned back to her desk. She knew DiNozzo had done _something_, she just couldn't figure out _what_. Ziva opened her desk drawer, and a dozen fluffy coloured springs flew out. Ziva jumped back in surprise. She glared daggers at DiNozzo, but he was too busy laughing his head off to notice. Ziva sighed and put a hand to her head. "Seriously, I don't understand how you could just throw your life away like that."

"You mean your prank? And here I thought you had a sense of humor." Tony continued chuckling until he saw Ziva roll her eyes uncaringly. Tony's laugh shrunk into a smirk and he spun around in his chair. "Okay, I'll bite. What has gotten the lady so deadpan this beautiful April morning?"

Ziva watched Tony, skeptically. "The truck. We all know you did it, Tony."

Tony leaned forward on his chair, intrigued. He glanced at Timothy questioningly before looking back at Ziva with an eyebrow raised. "What truck?"

"The one you parked in Gibbs' spot." McGee scoffed. He stopped typing again and rolled his chair away from his desk. He couldn't believe DiNozzo was still trying to hide what he did. "Don't you remember how he acted when I did it? He wouldn't stop giving me the death glare until I moved."

Tony blinked and stayed silent. Suddenly, he got up and speed walked towards the large window a meter away. His eyes widened when he saw what his fellow agents were talking about. "Wow."

"'Wow'?" Ziva quoted, putting a hand on her hip. "You sound surprised."

"I am surprised." Tony responded, still watching the truck intently, seemingly hypnotized by the flames that decorated it. "That's not my prank. I just changed the background on his computer."

Timothy and Ziva exchanged a look before they both walked over to Gibbs' computer. Ziva shook the mouse and the computer came out of sleep mode. The background wasn't one of Tony's best picks; just a cat with a poptart body and a rainbow trailing behind it. McGee frowned when he compared the prank he got with the one Tony gave their boss, though honestly he couldn't really blame him. McGee resisted rolling his eyes. "Cute, Tony."

"Isn't it?" DiNozzo replied, still not looking away from the truck gleaming in the moon light. "It made me think of you, probie."

"Hilarious." McGee said, sarcasm laced in his voice. Tony began ignoring his partners in favor of daydreaming about himself driving the truck he was staring at.

"... Oh man. Forget the Ferrari, I want one of those." Tony commented, receiving a chuckle from his teammates. Suddenly, Tony's eyes went wide and he reluctantly pried his eyes away from the truck's paint job. "It's Gibbs."

Ziva and McGee quickly shut down the computer and dashed to the window. The group watched as Leroy Jethro Gibbs parked his F-250 next to the truck that rested in his self proclaimed parking space. He stared at the intruding vehicle for a minute before heading inside, not losing his composure in the slightest. The agents rushed back to their desks. There was about a full minute of silence while Tony fidgeted in his seat. "I'm going to be the next body on Ducky's autopsy table."

"Only if your lucky." Ziva tantalized, amusement clear in her voice. Before DiNozzo had a chance to respond, Gibbs stepped out of the elevator, his face as blank as it always was. Gibbs walked towards the group and stopped in front of Tony. Tony looked up at his boss and sheepishly held out one of the cups on his desk.

"Coffee?" Tony smiled nervously. Gibbs grunted and showed DiNozzo the drink in his hand. The cocky agent nodded and wisely said nothing. Gibbs eyed the rest of his team, who all refused to look directly at him and tried to hide their smirks.

"Is that your truck, DiNozzo?" Gibbs questioned, which made Tony jump. His boss was speaking in a quiet tone that didn't sound threatening at all, which was a good reason to be scared.

DiNozzo shook his head slowly. "No."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. He could tell DiNozzo wasn't lying. If he was, he would be smiling while he spoke. Gibbs looked around at the other agents,who shook their heads as well. Gibbs frowned and walked over to his desk to pick up his bag. They would talk about the truck later. "Grab your gear. We have a body at Great Falls Park."

"Cool, a camping trip." Tony quipped, all of his uneasy feelings gone. He and the other agents jumped up and they each grabbed a bag from behind their desks. Tony smiled. "Should I bring a bathing suit?"

Ziva flinched, feigning disgust. "Keep your shirt on, Tony."


	2. Chapter 2

"Man, this place looks like a war zone." Tony commented, spinning in a circle to get a better look at his surroundings.

NCIS had just arrived at Great Falls Park, only to find dozens of craters in the ground and a bundle of trees either snapped in half or ripped out by their roots. The area seemed to be devoid of life. Even though it was still very early in the morning, the team had expected to see at least a squirrel or two scamper around.

Even though he should have been concerned, DiNozzo was fascinated by the destruction around him. "This reminds me of that 'meteor shower' in Egypt a few years ago, only on Blu-ray and in 3-D at the same time."

"Is everything like a movie to you, Tony?" Ziva asked, kneeling down and snapping a photo of one of the trees beside her. There was no record of a renovation going on in the park, so every demolished rock around her was evidence.

"I thought you knew me better than that, Ziva. Some things are comic books, too." Tony scolded playfully. He leaned over a crater to get a better look inside. "Besides, a meteor couldn't do that kind of damage to a pyramid."

"It was a proven fact." Ziva countered, stepping closer to one of the trees in front of her. "Didn't you listen to the president's speech?"

Tony paused his inspection for a moment before shrugging. "I don't know. But I'm telling you, the meteor shower was a hoax."

"I wish I could say the same about the departing of our deceased friend." Dr. Mallard, or 'Ducky' as his team called him, interrupted the conversation. He was crouching next to a limp body that laid in the middle of the destruction. The corpse was an Asian woman wearing a gray suit with holes in the jacket. She wore expensive looking boots and had shoulder length black hair. "She died recently, if not one or two hours ago."

Gibbs stood next to Ducky. He crossed his arms and threw his signature glare at DiNozzo, who jumped into one of the craters a few meters away from him. Tony's voice echoed out of the hole. "I was hoping to swim in the river on my first day at the park. A sand castle would be nice, too."

"You better not be contaminating our evidence, DiNozzo." Gibbs said crossly. Tony promptly hopped out of the crater and walked over to the corpse.

Ducky stood up from his crouched position to let McGee take a picture of the body. Ducky looked over the corpse again, the corners of his mouth twitching downwards slightly. The woman had died at such a young age. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Ducky turned to Gibbs. "She has bruised wrists, as if she was tightly bound by something metal."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "Kidnapping?"

"Perhaps." Ducky shrugged. "She has defensive wounds on her arms, and she appears to have been held by her waist as well."

When it looked like Ducky wasn't going to continue, Gibbs looked over to the rest of his team. "Murder weapon?"

McGee shook his head, though his eyes were fixed on the scenery. "Nothing yet, boss."

Gibbs nodded and crossed his arms as McGee stepped over a large branch to get a closer look at the lake. The water was calm. McGee could clearly see his reflection, as well as the clouds above him. It was extremely peaceful. He briefly wondered if one of his stories should take place near the ocean...

McGee was forced out of his daydream when water hit him in the face. With his eyes wide open, he saw DoNozzo standing in the lake, his hands wet from splashing his fellow agent. Tony bent over laughing while Timothy glared and brushed himself off. "You better hope the camera isn't ruined."

DiNozzo walked out of the lake, still smiling broadly. "Don't complain, McGeek. You needed a shower."

Mcgee rolled his eyes. "You're wet to, you know."

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs called, gaining the attention of everyone around him. "If you're still wet by the time we have to leave, you're walking!"

Tony quickly lost his smirk and tried to dry off by running away from the lake, leaving McGee with a victorious smirk on his face.

Ziva walked towards another tree that was broken in half. She bent down slightly and took a photo, the flash from the camera reflecting off of something underneath the trunk. Ziva paused for a moment before glancing over her shoulder. "Tony, I need you to help me push this."

"Push a tree?" DiNozzo raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly. He choked back a witty remark before he strolled over to the other agent and helped her move the trunk away, grunting at the effort it took. Letting out a breath, he stepped back to let Ziva continue what she was doing.

Ziva's eyes scanned the ground in front of her, unable to see anything unusual. She took another picture, and when something shined again she brushed some sticks out of the way to reveal a piece of metal. It was about the size of a dinner plate. What got Ziva's attention was the small puddle of a pink liquid resting under the metal.

Ziva quickly snapped a picture before sliding on some gloves and dipping a cotton swab into the fluid, letting it soak for a second before putting the Q-tip into a bag. Handing the bag to Tony, Ziva carefully picked up the metal and placed it into a larger bag. Ziva stood up with the metal in hand and was about to turn around when she looked past the tree with wide eyes.

There were dozens of metal pieces scattered all over the ground, most of them surrounded by the pink liquid as well. Some spots on the ground were only covered in the liquid, far away from anything metal. DiNozzo whistled. "Wow. It looks like someone committed grand-theft auto and started a chop shop."

Ziva only nodded. The two agents looked at each other for a moment before heading back towards their boss.

Ducky knelt back down to examine the body. He turn her head to the left for a moment before he raised an eyebrow. "This is strange..."

"What is it?" Gibbs asked with his usual harsh tone. Ducky swiftly got a Q-tip out and swiped the side of the body's neck.

"I believe our victim had been stabbed with something before she died." Ducky responded, placing the cotton swab into a bag and putting it aside. "There's a hole leading into one of her main arteries."

"You think she was injected with something?" Gibbs pressed, leaning forward slightly.

"Possibly, but the whatever was used was not a needle. Whoever did this was very hasty," Ducky replied, standing up again and showing Gibbs the Q-tip covered in a suspicious pink liquid. "The fluid is outside of the puncture wound as well."

Ziva speed-walked over to Gibbs and Ducky, with DiNozzo following behind her, wringing out his jacket. The metal slab was still in the bag, resting in Ziva's hands. "Gibbs, we found something."

"Actually, we found a lot of somethings." Tony quipped. "This isn't the only one, though it's probably the smallest."

Gibbs glanced over the metal, noticing the pink liquid covering it and motioning for Ducky to look closer. Gibbs turned towards Ducky, gesturing to the piece of metal. "Could this have injected the liquid?"

Ducky examined the object for a few moments before he shook his head. "No. It's too large. But, it does seem to have the same pink fluid."

Ziva blinked, suddenly remembering something. "Gibbs, the truck."

"Not now, Ziva." Gibbs said, still looking over the metal.

"No, Gibbs," Ziva continued, quickly handing the metal to Tony, much to his annoyance. "The truck was leaking the same pink liquid we found here."

Gibbs was moving before Ziva finished her sentence, swiftly taking out his cell phone. Gibbs quickly became impatient when it took a few seconds before the person on the other end of the phone picked up. Gibbs didn't even wait for them to ask who he was. "Vance, there's a large truck in the parking lot. Don't let anyone drive it. It's part of the investigation now."


	3. Chapter 3

Ziva was, reluctantly, sitting in the passenger seat on the way back to the base. She wanted to drive, but both Timothy and Tony desperately requested otherwise.

Gibbs was driving, with both DiNozzo and McGee sitting in the back. Ducky had his own car, so he opted to drive himself back after he secured the body. Gibbs didn't have time to wait, so he left without him.

Gibbs immediately started asking his team if they saw anything unusual that morning, starting with Ziva. "When did you first see the truck?"

"I passed by it on my way to the building," Ziva explained, trying to remember if she saw something out of place, besides the fact that the truck was in _Gibbs' parking spot_. "It was badly scratched and dented. It was leaking the pink fluid from somewhere. I am not sure where."

Gibbs waited impatiently for Ziva the finish. He needed to know if there was a murderer inside of their base. All of the information about their cases were stored there, but more importantly, there were people there who could get hurt. Gibbs increased his speed.

"There was no one inside," Ziva continued. "The truck was still warm, so whoever drove it must have left it there a few minutes before I saw it. I didn't see anyone else there."

Gibbs nodded, glancing at Timothy through the rearview mirror. "McGee?"

"Same as Ziva, but..." Timothy replied, clearing his throat. "When I saw the truck, it was making strange sounds, like someone was trying to drive it, but it wouldn't start."

"Was someone inside?" Gibbs asked, his eyes narrowing further.

"No," McGee said. He tapped his fingers on his legs, a habit he picked up from being on the computer so often. He usually did it when he was thinking really hard about something, though he didn't even realize he was doing it. "I asked if someone was there, but I didn't get a response. The truck slowly went quiet, though."

"I came there early to set up Ziva and McGee's pranks," Tony spoke after Timothy was finished, not-so-innocently leaving out the fact that he had a prank for Gibbs as well. "There was no truck when I got there."

Gibbs only nodded, not explaining his discovery of the vehicle with the rest of his team. When he had first arrived to the base, he almost crashed into the truck before he parked next to it and stared, his signature death glare directed at the truck's drivers seat.

Of course, the truck didn't respond. Gibbs never thought it would.

* * *

><p>Being unsettled and impatient made the trip back to base seem much longer than it was. It was almost 3:30 am before they finally entered the Naval grounds. It was still very dark outside, as it only took a total of two hours to drive to Great Falls Park and back, not counting the time the team spent searching the scene of the crime.<p>

When they got there, a group of NCIS agents were hooking the truck up to another vehicle, preparing to tow it to the evidence garage. The team drove into the space next to Gibbs' parking spot, exiting the vehicle and looking over the area. Gibbs stayed silent for a moment before he turned to the rest of the team. "McGee, DiNozzo, go talk to our front gate security guard. Ask him _why_ he let whoever drove this truck into the _Naval yard_."

"On it, boss," McGee and DiNozzo said, synchronized. They both started heading over to a young man, who had a nervous and guilty look on his face.

Tony smirked, turning to face Timothy. "So, you wanna be the good cop or the bad cop?"

McGee shook his head. "You already know the answer to that. You couldn't play 'good cop' to save your life."

Gibbs gestured for Ziva to follow him, and they walked towards one of the men hulling the truck away. The man glanced up at the truck and jotted information down on a sheet of paper, then turned around when he heard someone approaching him, coming into eye contact with Gibbs. The man stopped working and turned around fully to face him. "May I help you?"

Gibbs and Ziva flashed their badges. Gibbs looked at the truck for a moment before he spoke. "Has anyone come to claim it?"

"No," The man replied, twirling a pen in his fingers. "We _thought_ someone was in it, but I guess the driver just forgot to set the parking brake."

Ziva raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

The man shrugged. "I dunno. We tried to tow it before you guys got here, but..."

Gibbs was not in a good mood. He was in a hurry. His natural scowl reappeared on his face and he spoke straight and to the point. "'But' what?"

The man paused at the strictness of the question, but answered anyway. "It... fought us."

Ziva blinked in disbelief. "The truck_ attacked _you?"

"No, no..." The man said, glancing at the truck and back at the two agents in front of him. He looked very confused. "It just... backed up when we tried to hook it to the tow truck. It did it three times before it stopped."

Ziva remembered a case similar to this one. A woman was thought to have committed suicide, until the team found out that a robot vehicle had been designed to kill, and did just that. If this truck was a newer model of that other vehicle, the team would have to be extremely cautious. Gibbs was thinking the exact same thing.

Ziva paused and shook the man's hand. "Thank you for your time."

Gibbs started walking away, and Ziva turned around to follow him, leaving the man alone to think about how crazy he must have sounded.

* * *

><p>"Hello. I'm Special Agent McGee, and this is my partner, Special Agent DiNozzo," Timothy said calmly, showing the security guard his badge before placing it back into his pocket. "We'd like to ask you a few questions."<p>

The security guard nodded, shifting his footing. "What would you like to know?"

"First off," DiNozzo interrupted McGee before he even said anything. "Why did you let that truck inside the Naval yard?"

The guard winced at the harsh tone. "I... Look, the man had credentials and I thought they were real, alright?"

"The driver?" McGee asked, and the younger guard nodded. "What did the man look like?"

"Um... Older than you. He had short, dark hair, and he was dressed in red and blue," The security guard paused to think before continuing. "He looked very tired. And beat up. I thought it was because it was so early, but..."

DiNozzo continued his 'bad cop' act. He wouldn't tell anyone, but he just tried acting like Gibbs would when he was interrogating someone. "What was on his credentials?"

The man thought for a moment. "... It said something like... 'Orion Cullen' or something. It said something about an army, too, but I didn't read all of it..."

McGee swiftly wrote the name down, smiling. "Thank you. You free to go, but don't go too far. We might have more questions later."

The security guard smiled slightly in return, resuming his post. Tony and Timothy walked over to Gibbs and Ziva, DiNozzo's familiar smirk on his face.

"Gibbs, according to the security guard, the man who drove the truck is named 'Orion Cullen'." McGee said, watching as the truck was towed away, leaving a trail of pink liquid behind it.

Gibbs nodded, walking over to his self-designated parking spot. He looked over the large puddle of pink fluid, taking a sample with a cotton swab. He placed it in a bag before heading towards the base, the rest of his team following behind him.

* * *

><p>McGee searched every database he could think of after the army responded negativly. He even Googled it. No matter where he searched, there was no record of any 'Orion Cullen'.<p>

McGee dreaded Gibbs coming over and asking for information on their mystery man. He hoped that he was just tired and he missed something, so he tried again. The results were the same. McGee wished that he had more time, and that Gibbs wouldn't come over to him until he found something relevant to the investigation. As if on cue, a few seconds later, Gibbs walked over to Timothy's desk. "What do you have, McGee?"

Timothy shook his head. "Nothing. I checked everywhere. 'Orion Cullen' doesn't exist."

DiNozzo perked up, joining the conversation. "The security guard wasn't lying about it, though. The credentials must have been faked."

Gibbs frowned. He walked over to his desk, taking a seat. Vance had issued a search of everyone on the base earlier, trying to find a sign of the truck driver. Agents looked over the security camera footage, but they couldn't spot anyone or anything unusual. Either this 'Orion Cullen' didn't enter the base, or he was _very_ good at hiding.

Gibbs looked over his team before he spoke. "Ziva, McGee, go inspect the truck. DiNozzo, see if Abby has a match on the victim's blood sample and the pink liquid."

A series of 'yes boss's were heard as the NCIS agents stood up and started walking towards the elevator. Gibbs planned on going downstairs after Ducky had finished the autopsy, but Ducky had just arrived at the base, and it would take time for the procedure to be completed.

Deciding to run a scan of the victim's face though the facial recognization software, Gibbs shook the mouse on his computer, bringing it out of sleep mode and he raised an eye brow at the unexpected surprise.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs said sternly, pointing to the picture of Nyan Cat on his desktop before looking directly at Tony with an unimpressed look on his face. "_What_ is this?"


	4. Chapter 4

As soon as Tony exited the elevator, Abby spoke to him over her shoulder. "You're a little early, Gibbs! I only just started running the samples through the computer!"

"Well, I'm sure that would make Gibbs feel very out of place, but unfortunately, you're stuck with me," DiNozzo replied, smirking when Abby spun around to face him, surprised. Abby's mouth quickly formed a smile and she explained what was going on.

Abby received the blood sample from Ducky only a few minutes before DiNozzo came into her laboratory, so he had to wait a while. DiNozzo handed her a cotton swab covered in the pink liquid they found, so Abby started searching that as well. Both the search for the blood sample and the pink substance were being run at at the same time, so, to occupy himself, DiNozzo told Abby that Gibbs planned on bringing her a CafPow as soon as the case was solved. Abby was happy, though she wished she could have her drink right then and there.

It took longer than DiNozzo would have wanted, but Abby finally heard a beep from her computer. She looked over the results of the blood test, then she frowned. "That's not right."

Tony walked over and read the result aloud. "'Unidentified substance, no DNA detected?'"

"It must be broken again," Abby guessed, taking the blood sample out and fiddling with some of the controls, her fingers dancing along the keyboard. When she found nothing wrong, she stared at the blood sample questioningly before she brought it over to another table.

Abby carefully placed a drop of the blood onto a small slab of glass, sliding it under a microscope. Maybe she had gotten the blood and the pink liquid mixed up and put them in the wrong scanners, though she highly doubted that. Abby looked into the microscope lenses, and after a moment turned the dial to get a better look. "Tony, it's the liquid."

Abby stood up and let Tony get a look through the microscope. There was the victims blood, red like it should be, but there were traces of pink all throughout. They seemed to clash with each other, though not moving, as if the pink was trying to destroy the red. It was very strange.

As he looked, the other scan buzzed in completion and Abby looked over its results frown growing larger.

Before she could say anything, DiNozzo spoke as he peered into the liquid with mild interest. "It looks like some sort of rejected Pepto Bismol."

"I just searched everything in every database we have access to. There's no match," Abby shook her head in defeat, pouting slightly. "I mean, there's a _match_, but those matches don't have matches either! Know one can even tell what it's made out of."

Tony 'ah'd. "So I'm guessing that you can?"

"No. The computers don't recognize anything," Abby huffed. "I was really looking forward to that CafPow."

"You're still going to get it, Abbs," Gibbs said, suddenly walking into the room with a CafPow in hand. Abby almost squealed, taking the cup and sipping at it briefly before she set it down.

"Bad timing, Gibbs," Abby admitted, gesturing to the results of the tests on her computers. "We can't identify the victim by her blood, because it's been contaminated by that pink liquid."

"I consider that good timing," Gibbs responded. "We know that she had been injected with something that may have killed her."

Abby blinked, pointing to the computers again. "Well, yeah, but we don't know what it is."

Gibbs only nodded, turning around and abruptly walking out of the room. The facial scan was most likely still be running. He had time to go see if Ducky was finished the autopsy before the scan would be complete.

Tony paused before looked to Abby. "I'll never understand how you get used to that."

Abby merely shrugged.

* * *

><p>Neither McGee nor Ziva had been in the evidence garage in a while.<p>

For McGee, it brought back too many bad memories. It wasn't the first time a vehicle seemed to have a mind of its own. The Department of Defense had been working on a project to make a vehicle that could drive itself, almost like a robot. The vehicle had almost killed his friend, and McGee didn't notice because he was too busy listening to audio files of the latest victim. If Gibbs hadn't gotten there in time...

McGee shook his head to clear his thoughts. He had more important things to worry about, like the truck that could possibly belong to a murderer. McGee reread his notes, where he had written down everything they knew about the vehicle.

The truck had been driven into NCIS by a man under the alais 'Orion Cullen'. The truck had no license plate, and therefor, it was impossible to determine who owned it. The truck had possibly been to the scene of the murder, as the pink liquid it was leaking was also found there. It's driver was no where to be found. It was likely that the driver was either a witness or the perpetrator of the crime.

Ziva walked up to the truck, taking a picture of it close up. She placed a hand on top of one of the many scratches on it's exterior. She shivered. The truck was unnervingly cold. It looked slightly greyer than before, but Ziva assumed that she was just imagining that. Ziva briefly wondered how long it would take for it to run out. It was still leaking that pink liquid as well. It didn't look like gasoline. Perhaps someone was testing out a new type of fuel.

Ziva traced a finger along the scratch until her hand reached the passenger side door. She gripped the handle and gave it a gentle pull, the door opening with ease before it slammed shut.

Ziva jumped back, instinctively pulling out her gun. McGee's head snapped up from reading his notes and he stared at Ziva in surprise before hesitatingly reaching for his own weapon. "... Why did you slam the door?"

When she accessed the situation and verified that there was no immediate threat, Ziva relaxed and placed the gun back in her pouch. "I didn't. It must be a security system."

Ziva walked over to a nearby toolbox and took out a crowbar. She went back over to the truck, and McGee briefly wondered if she was going to try and break into the vehicle. Ziva opened the door a second time, and before it shut itself again, Ziva placed the crowbar directly between the door and the outside frame. The door tried to close a few time, each time weaker than the last, before the security system gave up and the door stayed still. Ziva smirked, climbing into the passenger seat and looking around.

She took another picture, noting that the truck looked a lot better inside than out. It was considerably cleaner, though there was a small puddle of the pink fluid on the floor mats. The seats were ripped in various placed, but it was barely noticeable. The dashboard seemed seemed to have received the worst of whatever got to the truck. It had a large, jagged crack that went along the top of the dash, connecting to a crack in the windshield that Ziva hadn't noticed from the outside.

Ziva reached down and grabbed the parking brake. It was in place. One of the people towing the truck must have set it after the driver forgot. She looked around for something that would help identify the driver, a license, a health card, a hair, even a footprint in the puddle of liquid, but there was nothing. It was almost as if no one had been inside in the first place, though she knew that it was impossible. A man had been seen inside. She knew that some vehicles could drive on their own, but they had a witness. She couldn't just jump to conclusions.

Ziva scanned the truck's interior one more time before climbing out, removing the crowbar to allow the security system to take over. When the door hung open for a few seconds, Ziva closed it herself.

McGee wandered over to the front of the truck. He bent down and curiously brushed away some dirt and dust that stuck to the grill. He blinked in confusion. He never saw that symbol on the truck before. It looked like a face, almost cartoonish, but it also looked sad. Timothy took out his camera, hoping it wasn't water damaged, and snapped a photo of the strange symbol. After he finished, McGee stood up and steadily opened the hood of the truck.

Timothy didn't really consider himself a 'car person'. He didn't know the first thing about fixing a vehicle engine, or how someone managed to build a vehicles frame, but he knew just by looking that the truck was in very bad shape. "Ziva, could you come here?"

Ziva nodded and walked over, her eyes widening slightly at what she saw. The truck looked even worse under the hood. Many of it's main fuel lines were cut. Most of it's vital part were either missing or broken. The pink fluid was leaking furiously from various cracks in the metal. Even though she wasn't the best mechanic in the world, she knew that it was a miracle the truck could even _move_.

"What do you think could have happened to damage it so much?" Ziva asked, turning towards McGee, who responded only with a halfhearted shrug. McGee began to write their findings in his notes, leaving Ziva to look over the truck herself. She couldn't see anything that would warrant her attention, so she just raised her camera again and took another picture.

In a way that made Ziva feel like she might be experiencing deja vu, the camera flash reflected off of something within the many gears and parts. Ziva paused, then with a gloved hand reached in and picked up something that looked very familiar.

A shard of metal. Despite being smaller, it looked just the same as the one she had found at Great Falls Park.

Where the murder had taken place.

Ziva quickly picked up her phone. She had to inform Gibbs.


End file.
